1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a sliding mechanism and, more particularly, to a sliding mechanism and an electronic device using the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The mobile communication device, such as a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant having a communication function, a handheld personal computer (HPC) and so on, has become a necessary communication/entertainment tool in modern life. In addition, the appearance of the mobile communication device has become more and more diversified to meet modern people's demands for new and change.
Taking mobile phones as an example, there are three types of the mobile phones, and they are a bar-type mobile phone, a slide-type mobile phone, and a flip-type mobile phone. The sizes of a screen and a keypad of a slide-type mobile phone are generally larger than the sizes of a screen and a keypad of a bar-type mobile phone, and the operation (such as receiving a call) of the slide-type mobile phone is more convenient than the operation of a flip-type mobile phone. Therefore, more and more manufacturers provide the slide-type mobile phones for consumers to select.
Generally, a slide-type mobile phone has two main body parts, and the two main body parts are connected with each other via a sliding mechanism. One of the main body parts is allowed to slide relative to the other main body part after suffering a force (such as a pushing force from a user). The sliding mechanism is the core structure of the slide-type mobile phone. Therefore, many researches and improvements in light of the sliding mechanism are provided at present.
A prior art discloses a sliding device including a bottom plate, an upper cover, and a spring. Sliding rails and a plurality of fastening holes are formed at two sides of the bottom plate, respectively, and a plurality of fastening holes and sliding grooves for receiving the sliding rails are formed at two sides of the upper cover, respectively. The spring is disposed between the bottom plate and the upper cover, one end of the spring is pivotally connected with a lateral surface of the bottom plate, and the other end is pivotally connected to the lateral surface of the upper cover which the bottom plate corresponds to. When an external force is exerted, the upper cover slides from a low end of the bottom plate to an upper end of the bottom plate along the sliding rails. Furthermore, when the deformation amount of the spring exceeds the critical point changing characteristics, the upper cover may continuously slide to one predetermined point of the upper end of the bottom plate under the elastic force of the spring.
However, after the sliding device is used for a period of time, with the loss of the elastic force, the direction-changing point may shift. Thus, the upper cover may slide back to the low end of the bottom plate in the opening process, may move to the upper end of the bottom plate in the closing process, or may stop at the middle of the bottom plate in the moving process, which may cause operation to be inconvenient.
In addition, to provide a preferred operating hand feeling, many complex sliding mechanisms are provided. Another prior art discloses a sliding structure improvement of a slide-type mobile phone. However, the sliding mechanism is complex, which results in high manufacturing cost and a high damaging rate.